Proud to have found success in multiple areas of specialty and expertise in mental health care, Alice J. Olson excels as a highly credentialed addiction and mental health therapist with the Parkdale Center for Professionals in Chesterton, Indiana. Since joining the center in 2016, Ms. Olson has supervised four groups as a senior therapist for aftercare. She is gratified by the positive outcomes she sees from individuals in her groups, including a low relapse rate and consistent attendance. As a meticulous and devoted professional, Ms. Olson takes special care to ensure that her documentation is superb. For her accomplishments and commitment to her field, she received a letter of commendation from former Indiana Governors Robert Orr and Otis Bowen, as well as former President Ronald Reagan in 1986. In 2021, she was featured in The National Digest, an honor she again enjoyed in 2024.
Holding a string of vital certifications in mental health services, Ms. Olson is a licensed professional counselor, a nationally certified alcohol and drug abuse counselor, a clinical addiction counselor, a licensed mental health counselor, and a certified clinical trauma professional. She first prepared for her career at Indiana University’s Northwest Campus in Gary, Indiana, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in education in 1972. In 1978, she obtained a Master of Arts in special education from Ball State University. Returning to her education decades later, Ms. Olson graduated from Governors State University with a Master of Arts in counseling and guidance in 2001.
Ever dedicated to serving others in any way she can, Ms. Olson has found success as a court-appointed special advocate for children since 2017. Though she now primarily works in the areas of addiction and behavioral medicine, she spent the first half of her career in a different niche entirely as an interpreter for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. Ms. Olson previously was the president of the Indiana Deafness and Rehabilitation Association from 1984 to 1986 and has been a member of the National Association for the Deaf and the Indiana Association for the Deaf. From 1977 to 1978, she was a member of the consultant planning committee of the Northwest Indiana Agency for the Deaf. From 1975 to 1986, she garnered experience as a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the deaf with Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation.
Since transitioning to her work in addiction and behavioral medicine, Ms. Olson served as a counselor at Methodist Hospital in Merrillville, Indiana, for 20 years, from 1986 to 2006. She was a group facilitator for the St. Jude House in Crown Point, Indiana, from 2000 to 2011, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, she was able to treat clients across the nation through telehealth services. Ms. Olson enjoys a diverse professional resume. Among her prior employers, she held roles with the Regional Mental Health Center in Merrillville, the Trade Winds Rehabilitation Center, and the Everybody Counts Center for Independent Living. She previously served as a coordinator with various professional conferences and as an editor for newsletters. Ms. Olson began her career as a teacher with Portage Adult Education.
In recognition of her achievements as a mental health professional, Ms. Olson was named a Marquis Who’s Who Top Health Care Provider and received both the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and the Marquis Who’s Who Humanitarian Award. Additionally, she was featured in the Marquis Insight Magazine, Marquis Who’s Who Milestones, and Marquis Who’s Who Industry Leaders. To aspiring mental health professionals and therapists, Ms. Olson highlights the importance of prevention and learning coping skills. She emphasizes that the job is not about the money. Instead, it’s important to refocus one’s goals on making a difference in others’ lives.